TV: ‘Loudest Voice’ is Russell Crowe’s finest work

Al Alexander More Content Now

Tuesday

Jun 25, 2019 at 9:47 AMJun 25, 2019 at 9:47 AM

If Fox News messiah Roger Ailes were still alive, he’d no doubt blame “Hollywood liberals” for ganging up on him with not one - but THREE - productions about what a racist, misogynistic louse he was in becoming both the architect of the modern Republican Party and its chief propagandist. For the meat-and-potatoes crowd, there was last winter’s documentary, “Divide and Conquer,” and for the jewel-rattling Academy crowd, Jay’s Roach’s upcoming, yet-to-be-titled, evisceration starring Margot Robbie and Oscar-winners Nichole Kidman, Charlize Theron and Allison Janney.

Fitting nicely in between is Showtime’s “The Loudest Voice,” featuring an outstanding turn by another Oscar-winner in Russell Crowe buried deep behind a jowly avalanche of latex (think Christian Bale in “Vice”) and heavily padded fat suit as Ailes. When the miniseries begins its seven-week run at 10 p.m. June 30 expect it to stir the right’s white-male melting pot with its graphic depictions of a king-maker destined to become - deservedly so - one of the biggest (literally and figuratively) casualties of the #MeToo movement.

Network hosts Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson will no doubt fain indignity, crying “fake news.” But then they aren’t among the dozens of female co-workers like Gretchen Carlson and Laurie Luhn who literally felt the heavy hands of Ailes on their behinds. If nothing else, “The Loudest Voice,” created by journalist Gabriel Sherman and “Spotlight” Oscar-winner Tom McCarthy, fills you with intense empathy for the indignities these women suffered. You’re sufficiently appalled; but in all fairness, you’re also forced to admit that when it came to television, Roger Ailes was an evil genius, building Fox News from scratch into the No. 1 draw on cable television for infinite years running.

The series leaves it to us to pick a side - if there’s a side to pick - in laying out the good, bad and ugly of a man whose main goal was to create an “us-against-them” mentality in an America that is now divided more than at any time since the Civil War. That’s all Roger Ailes. Without him, there’d be no Donald Trump, no Mitch McConnell and no hoodwinking of an electorate thoroughly convinced to vote against their own best interests.

That’s some powerful dude, and Crowe magnificently exudes that dynamism in his every gesture. You admire his Ailes just as much as you admire his ability to get things done through a lethal combination of brains and manipulation. And judging by the series, no one was played more than Fox News emperor Rupert Murdock, nicely portrayed by Simon McBurney. The media barons clash repeatedly over the two decades depicted with the multi-billionaire Aussie always ending up on the losing end - until Carlson (a terrific Naomi Watts) blew the whistle and finally convinced the old man to dump his 25-year meal ticket.

Of the four episodes made available for preview, Sunday night’s debut is by far the strongest, largely because it was co-written by McCarthy, who also co-wrote “Spotlight.” Ever since he memorably played a disgraced Baltimore Sun reporter on “The Wire,” McCarthy has become a devout news junkie able to accurately capture the thrill of landing a big story and the heartbreak of banging up against compromised editors who don’t share your enthusiasm. Publishers and chief executives aren’t your friends, as they bend and break you to fit their mode. Ailes was definitely one of those types, often forcing his staff to betray ethics and responsibility in the name of a political agenda.

McCarthy and co-writer Alex Metcalf bring that palpably to life in the first episode, as we watch Ailes getting the boot as the head of CNBC in 1995 and couching it as an opportunity to fulfill a dream of creating a news network exclusively for conservatives - with Murdoch’s deep pockets behind him. It makes for a thrilling watch, as Ailes raids his CNBC staff - including chief fixer/enforcer Bill Lewis (funny man Seth MacFarlane surprisingly good in a dramatic role far from “Ted”) and future wife, Beth (an unrecognizable Sienna Miller) - convincing them to join in on his crazy-like-a-Fox vision.

In subsequent episodes, that “let’s-put-on-a-show” enthusiasm yields to considerably darker shades, as elements of misogyny and racism (just try to find a person of color at Fox News) rear their heads. Most troubling is the case of the network’s booker and events planner Laurie Luhn (Annabelle Wallace, excellent) who literally becomes Ailes sex slave to devastating effect. And what Ailes and his wife do to the once charming Putnam County News and Reporter, buying the rag and using it to push their nefarious politics on their neighbors in bucolic Garrison, New York, is chilling.

Yet, you remain forever intrigued. And that’s largely due to Crowe’s finest turn in more than a decade. Even behind all that make-up, Crowe brings the combination of genius and inhumanity clearly to the fore. It’s a performance you love to hate. And Miller is right there with him as Ailes’ Lady Macbeth. What a wonderfully revolting couple. I’d be remiss, though, if I didn’t admit that the series, based on Sherman’s book “The Loudest Voice in the Room,” wasn’t a complete “fair and balanced” hatchet job designed to stir the progressive base.

Still, you cannot deny that the accusations of sexual harassment and the dirty politics of a network geared to rile the left aren’t rooted in fact. And I must admit, I wasn’t expecting the series to be this celebratory of Ailes’ ability to so thoroughly cash in on the American dream. Yes, Ailes is largely responsible for our nation’s rapidly growing political divides, but watching “The Loudest Voice,” you’re struck by its “only in America” vibe; one that is both our greatest gift and our least resistant path to destruction.

Al Alexander may be reached at alexandercritica@aol.com.

“The Loudest Voice”Cast includes Russell Crowe, Sienna Miller, Naomi Watts, Seth MacFarlane and Annabelle Wallace. Premieres at 10 p.m. Sunday on Showtime; also available on On Demand the following day. Grade: A-

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